Fuses that matter.

Almarg, you asked,

"Geoff, let me pose a simple question. When a seemingly absurd claim of sonic benefit from some tweak is offered, do you consider that there can EVER be a finite limit to its apparent degree of absurdity beyond which it is justifiable to dismiss the claim "a priori"?"

Well, what you consider absurd I or someone else might not. Onviously a lot of folks think many of my products absurd, while I do not, obviously. One of the points of Zen and the Art of Debunkery is the ease with which many well-educated folks dismiss mysterious or absurd ideas or phenomena. One might even say the more the higher education, the stronger the attitude, as I've intimated recently on this thread. Ironically, skeptics seem to be under the impression that the full force of science and the scientific community is backing them up. "Science will not allow it, it disobeys all known laws of science, etc. As if the skeptic even knows all thenlaws of science. Talk about absurd! Lol

As a skeptic, don't you think truth would be better served by actual investigation rather that idle speculation from the comfort of your Barko Lounger? You might consider taking a tip from PT Barnum who said, folks would be better off believing in too much rather than too little.

"A sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from Magic." - Arthur C Clarke

Cheers, Geoff

Almarg, you said,

"To conjure up an example, suppose someone posts on the Internet that he has noticed that the sound of his system is significantly different depending on whether or not the TV set is on or off in the home of a friend living a mile away. He asserts that there is a cause and effect relationship between the two variables. Would you consider it unacceptable to dispute that claim without trying it?"

Of course, anyone can devise an absurd situation, but that doesn't mean mean all "absurd" audio tweaks are fabrications or impossible. If fact, your strawman argument, if I can be so bold to point out, is one of the illogical arguments presented in Zen and the Art of Debunkery. Even Bryon will certainly agree with me here.

Cheers, Geoff

Mapman - I want a piece of that. There's gold in them hills!

05-12-12: Geoffkait
I think it would be a fair statement to say, however, that many of the "arguments" presented in Zen and the Art of Debunkery actually do apply to many of the debates on audio forums, especially those concerning controversial tweaks, like the directionality of fuses or fuses in general.

I agree with this, Geoff. And I too find it regrettable, because it shuts down the exploration of ideas. But I will reiterate that I do not believe that Drasin's descriptions of Ideological Skepticism describe Al. Although he and I have never met in person, I can say with absolute confidence that he is open minded. I have personally presented a number of "mystery experiences," in threads like this, this, this, and this, and in each of those he demonstrated abundant open mindedness. Others can report similar experiences. So your choice of target was poor, IMO. Moving on...

Drasin's descriptions of Ideological Skepticism don't remind me of scientists, but they DO remind me of people who are dogmatic or doctrinaire, and there are plenty of those around. My suspicion is that the scientific community has FEWER people that meet that description than the general public. But of course that is a speculation.

And finally to the topic that will send this thread over a cliff...

I suspect the arguments presented in Zen and the Art of Debunkery are probably intended to represent those who feel threatened - or feel that the scientific community is threatened - by something that cannot be explained, like UFOs

Again, I agree. More importantly, UFO's exist! Whether they contain little green men is another question. But the documentation of UFO encounters is vast and incontrovertible. For a recent book that compiles the official testimony of dozens of military pilots, commercial pilots, radarmen, commanding officers up to the level of General, and others, see Leslie Kean's recent book. To the uninitiated, it's shocking. Most of the Ideological Skeptics I know won't read it! :-)

Bryon

Bryon, you said,

"Again, I agree. More importantly, UFO's exist! Whether they contain little green men is another question. But the documentation of UFO encounters is vast and incontrovertible. For a recent book that compiles the official testimony of dozens of military pilots, commercial pilots, radarmen, commanding officers up to the level of General, and others, see Leslie Kean's recent book. To the uninitiated, it's shocking. Most of the Ideological Skeptics I know won't read it! :-)
Bryon, you said,

"Again, I agree. More importantly, UFO's exist! Whether they contain little green men is another question. But the documentation of UFO encounters is vast and incontrovertible. For a recent book that compiles the official testimony of dozens of military pilots, commercial pilots, radarmen, commanding officers up to the level of General, and others, see Leslie Kean's recent book. To the uninitiated, it's shocking. Most of the Ideological Skeptics I know won't read it! :-)

I knew we'd finally agree on something. Lol. Would you believe I used to work right down the street from Operation Bluebook, the Air Force office investigating UFOs at Wright Patterson AFB way back when? You Tube has some Rather difficult to explain, highly entertaining videos of UFOs.

Geoff, in defense of Al, his "idle speculation" comes from the comfort of a Wassily B3, not a Barco Lounger (Barcalounger, correct name). So there!
Al, keep the idle speculation coming! :)